The car...Audi A3

Big post... here we go!

Most of you know me as a computer modder. If it looks sick, I want to make it look ILL!

You name it, the schools computer, your computer, my computer.... I will mod it. Once I even put an external HDD that had blue leds into a computer chassis with a window... the teacher loved it.

Modding is a serious passion for me. I like to use it as a way to express myself; I don't like to settle for just "normal". I'm not one to own something that looks the same as 10,000 other people(s). It also gives me a way to unleash my inner creativity that I keep all pent up when I'm working to the bone.

I have refused to post pictures of our Audi A3 for one simple reason; I'm still working on it. So here is a standard A3.
It's a very sporty hatchback... and a complete sleeper.
It's main competition are the Volks GTI, the Suburu WRX, and the MazdaSpeed3. This car is no slouch, it a 4.0 liter turbocharged monster just waiting to be unleashed.

Here are some modded A3's

For those of you not in the "know"
-DSG (A3 and GTI) is World's fastest shifting transmission at 8ms, Ferrari Enzo shifts in 110ms, BMW M3 in 80ms.
-JD Power & Associates 5 star crash test rating
-Top 10 engine in the world.
-Same Engine and Transmission as it's brother the GTI.
-$26,000 base price
-0-60 in 7 seconds.
-200hp / 207lb ft tq.
-6500rpm
-Turbo stock (K03)
-Intercooler stock

With all the spare money that I used to dump into my computers, I have now found a new form of modding... the car.

Progress:
So far I have done very little too it, and I have far more to go.
But when it comes to modding I like to use the motto "GO before SHOW". My computer cost was never sacrificed by how many cold cathodes I wanted to have so my car's power won't be sacrificed for aesthetics either.

Currently the car is generating about 260hp and 300lb ft tq. with a new rate up to 7200rpm.
Upgrades so far:
-GIAC ecu flash
-ECS Torque arm insert
-EVOMs Cold air Intake.

This car is now 0-60 in less than 6seconds.

I'm not even going to begin to show where my direction is going, but expect to start seeing some pictures and video of the car in the not too distant future.

Once the engagement ring is purchased, expect most of my hard earned money to get showered into this new found toy. If you have any questions... feel free to ask.

Getting Engaged

Hopefully if all my hard work pays off, the money that I am earning will be spent on a beautiful ring for my wonderful girlfriend.

The ring I will be purchasing looks very similar to this one. The only difference is that the outside square and the 2nd to the inside square are laid with black diamonds.

We are both into things that are "Industrial" and this is about as "Industrial" of an engagement ring that I will ever find.

We have been living together (sinners!) for the last 3.5 years, the time is now.

History:
-We met playing World of Warcraft.
-I moved from Spokane, Wa to Santa Barbara, CA.
-Happily ever after.

Engineering Internship

Most of you know that I work my ass off... day in and day out...I'm always busy and too swamped to post as often as I wish I could. I work hard in hopes that someday all this work will pay off.... and it better.

Here is what I did:

14 units of College (Physics, Math, Java, Philosophy, 2 labs)
1 full time job at Starbucks (25hours a week)

Well just last week I got hired as a paid Electrical Engineer Intern.

Here is what I do now:
14 units of College (Physics, Math, Java, Philosophy, 2 labs)
1 full time job at Starbucks (25hours a week)
1 part time job as an inten (25hours a week)


If my post count drops severely, you know know why. I'm normally always busy as you can now tell, but tonight I traded a shift so that I could relax before the storm that is next week. So I am taking this time to keep my fellow readers updated.

My Engineering Internship is really rad. I could not ask to be in a better place in my life. I have officially reached my goal, and now I just have to get through a few more years of college.

My Internship:
I cannot disclose much because I'm pretty sure it's confidential , but currently I am working on an Intel motherboard for a laptop due out next summer. I'm the guy routing the traces from the socket to the memory. I had no idea how important the length of those traces had to be, I do now.

It's a lot of learning! The program I am using is called Cadence Allegro, the licensing cost for this incredibly advanced software is $30,000.

...oh man, what a blast it is. I could go on and on, but if you have any questions feel free to ask me.

Vista SP2 coming... but when?

Only time will tell, but VR-Zone found a leaked screenshot and some quick infomation on what SP2 might entail.


The best thing we can hope for ... is what SP1 failed us with... performance gains! I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Nvidia assualts the notebook sector

Intel's integrated chips could be in some serious beatings. Five major vendors including Apple have signed on to include the upcoming 9400m series integrated GPU in upcoming laptops.

Nvidia and leading analysts say that they could potentially carve out 30% of the IGP pie for themselves. This is a stance that Intel has feared for a while now. Intels last hope for the IGP market could be with the Larrabee platform.

This comes as great news to me. Although Intel's x4500HD may provide a better battery life for those that just IM, Surf and use MSWord, the performance of the 9400m is roughly 5 times as powerfull, perfect for the video editors and more intense people in the "industries". Besides if all you do are simple tasks, don't waste your money on a full fledged laptop, go get a netbook.

Ati 4830 released

For all you gamers that are looking for a great card on a low budget. This card is for you. For a mere $130 you can get a great card that can handle almost anything you can throw at it.

	GPU: 575MHz
	Stream Processors				: 640
	Memory Clock:				1800MHz
	Memory Size:				512MB
	Memory Interface:				256-bit
	Memory Type:				GDDR3

Check out the review over at Anandtech.
Image courtesy of Anandtech